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January 31, 1983

Almost 2,500 Americans remain listed as missing in action a decade after the Paris peace accords brought an end to US fighting in the Vietnam war. It was appropriate for President Reagan last week to address a conference representing their families - assuring them that their private efforts to find the missing are accompanied by government efforts of ''the highest priority.'' No less is owed to those who served their country and the families left in lingering doubt about their loved ones.